As we celebrate this milestone, we invite you to join us in reminiscing with our Otter teams as they share their cherished memories, reflections, and emotions from their time at Otter Garden Centres.
I qualified as a hairdresser, but it was really hard to find a job, the best I could do was to rent a chair and find my own clients.
So I came to Otter and was offered 13 weeks on a casual basis. That was back in 1987 – in May this year, I’ll have been working at Otter for 37 years!
I started work in the growing area, mainly potting up the plants. I learnt about the different varieties, and what compost they needed. I became familiar with shrubs and herbaceous plants, as well as conifers. In the next tunnel we made up the compost for growing; back then it was a mix of peat, VAPO, slow-release feed, grit and water, all mixed up. Now of course we’re moving to peat-free compost.
In the winter months I’d go over to the propagating area, which was where the stores are now. I’d work on bare root roses, trees and soft fruit. It was a busy area, and it gave me a change to work on different plants and with different people.
When someone left the alpine section, I asked if I could take it on, so for a while I was working partly in the plant centre and partly in the growing area. Then I took on heathers and herbs, and found I was mostly in the plant centre, which is where I’ve stayed since.
For the last few years I’ve helped out in the Christmas section, after the festive lighting moved over to our area. So I can jump between Christmas and the plant centre, wherever I’m needed.
As the business has grown there have been many updates, 2023 was a major one for us in the plant centre. The outside area had always sloped, so the ground was levelled and the whole area re-tarmacked, so it’s easier to move trolleys around. The tarmac is porous, so any groundwater soaks away.
The layout is different, we still have our A to Z of plants, but now we have more helpful displays showing plants for purpose. So plants you might use in a sunny spot, plants for wildlife, evergreen plants for year-round greenery. Customers are finding these really useful. And all the beds at the entrances have been revamped to show off all the best seasonal stock.
The watering system used to only run overnight, but we now have flood benches so we can water the plants during the day without soaking the customers!
In the early years, we took part in a three-legged race around Exe Bridges in Exeter, there were five pairs of us.
I was in the ‘Otter’ team. We wore bright yellow t-shirts and wigs. I’m quite short and my partner was 6 feet tall which was fun!
We had to do various activities, apple bobbing, leaping over jumps, eat hot and spicy pizza and drink half a pint at the Prospect Pub before walking through soapy bath water. We finished at the Mill on the Exe where we had to row a boat across the river.
I also took part in one of the fashion shows. I was modelling nightwear. I remember wearing shorts and a t-shirt and dancing the macarena with Marilyn’s granddaughter Sabine, who was only very young at the time.
There’s such a variety of work, and always more to learn – I’m learning every day. I’ve worked on pretty much every section so I’ve got a lot of knowledge. I really like helping customers with their plant questions.
You stay fit, it can be physical work, there are eight shelves on the Danish trollies we use to move plants around when they’re full they’re really heavy!
It’s a real family business. When I started, Malcolm and Marilyn were heavily involved. In Spring I’d often stay late at night to help Marilyn make up the most beautiful hanging baskets for customer orders. Cathy was still at school then. It’s great to have seen their children grow up and get involved in the business.
There was always a risk with sprinklers coming on and customers and staff getting wet!
I remember one occasion when a pipe burst in the A to Z section, water was shooting out like a fountain. One customer was so determined to get to the plants he was interested in that he put a yellow trolley over the leak!
I remember a lovely moment when a little deer came into the site. It must have come up from the River Otter. I spotted it and it started running all round the garden centre. I’m glad to say it managed to escape again and was just fine.
Once I came in when it had been snowing, I was one of the first in. We’d been having problems with rabbits getting in and nibbling plants. When I arrived I saw loads of rabbit tracks in the snow and five big holes where they got through to the evergreens for a snack. Everything’s rabbit-proofed now of course.
It might make you laugh, but my own garden is mainly grass!
In season we’re so busy, I just don’t have time for gardening at home, it’s enough to mow the lawn! But I look at the plant centre as my own garden, so I get all the benefit of that.
A huge thank you goes out to Sharon for reminiscing with us.
Sharon has been a big, important part of Otter Garden Centres. We’re so grateful for her dedication and passion over the past 37 years.
Keep an eye out for more heartwarming tales from our amazing team as we continue our 60th Anniversary celebrations!
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